Developing Leadership in Entrepreneurs!

Are entrepreneurs born or made?

This is a question that has been endlessly debated. However, it is agreed that the role of leadership in business is indisputable. Great leaders create great businesses. Mediocre leaders create mediocre businesses.

Therefore it is implied that the Business is as great as the Leader. Microsoft became what it is today because of Bill Gates, Apple because of Steve Jobs, GE because of Jack Welch, Reliance because of Dhirubhai Ambani, Infosys because of Narayan Murthy, Facebook because of Mark Zuckerberg, Biocon because of Kiran Mazumdar Shah, Alibaba because of Jack Ma and many others.

What makes a leader successful? Great leaders have a certain quality about them. These qualities of leadership inspire confidence and belief in what they do. They simultaneously instill faith in the team, guiding & steering everything in the right direction. Leadership is not as innate, as unachievable, as many might think. Rather, it’s a quality that can be developed over time.

However, Leadership traits, qualities, styles vary depending upon the business they are in. Leadership styles required for Entrepreneurs are different from established Corporate Leadership styles.  Entrepreneurial Leadership demands agility, rapid experimentation, adaptation, and rapid response in a rapidly changing, often hostile business environment. 

The Entrepreneurial Leader does not have the luxury of having a large team of professionals to manage all aspects/functions of a Business and would be required to manage Finance, People, Sales, Marketing, building the Brand, and also take care of Delivery. To a great extent would be required to be multi-tasking and an all-rounder.

Source: http://genylabs.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345675df69e201bb092780ff970d-pi

It requires the Leaders to: 

– Create a compelling vision to inspire the team, the investors, and the customers and sell them the vision, and carry them along the journey

– Demonstrate entrepreneurial creativity, search continuously for new opportunities and pursue them with vigor and determination

– Take a risk, venture into new areas and provide strategic direction and inspiration to all the stakeholders 

– Take responsibility for the failures of their team, learn from these failures and use them as a stepping stone for success and strategic achievement.

– Entrepreneurial leadership involves instilling the confidence to think, behave and act with entrepreneurship in the interests of fully realizing the intended purpose of the organization to the beneficial growth of all stakeholders involved.

– Coming up with innovative ideas and turning them into value-creating profitable business activities.

– Encourage expansive out-of-the-box thinking to generate new ideas, but also filter through these ideas to decide which to pursue and commercialize

– Radically changing the rules of the game in the industry. Setting yourself apart from the crowd in your industry?

– Effectively manage the limited resources (people, material & finance) on hand 

– Adapting constantly and learning to manage change

– Being ethical and acting with Integrity & Trust

There is always a debate as to whether the Team is as only as good as its Leader or the Leader is only as good as his Team?

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